1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hand-held device that is provided in particular for dental purposes and comprises means for dispensing a pasty filling material.
2. Related Technology
In medical technology, it is known to fill cavities in an animal or human body part with a filling material capable of hardening. For this purpose, filling materials are used which are introduced into the cavity in a pasty or liquid state and subsequently harden or are hardened. Hardening of these filling materials can be assisted in particular by irradiation thereof with light of a suitable wavelength.
A dental hand-held device which is configured for dispensing a pasty filling compound is known from WO 2006/136398 A2. In this case, it is proposed inter alia to subject the filling compound to ultrasound during dispensing, as a result of which the filling compound can be introduced more effectively into the cavity.
Typically, the process of introducing the light-hardening filling materials is performed in layers, in order to fill the cavity in an optimum fashion. In this case, a small amount of the filling material is introduced in each case into the cavity and is subsequently hardened which can be performed e.g. with the aid of a light polymerization lamp, as described in the publications DE 196 19 154 A1 and DE 196 19 155 A1. In turn, filling material is then introduced in a further operating step into the cavity and is hardened, wherein this alternating procedure is repeated until the cavity has been completely filled.